21-04-2025
Quiz: How much do you know about long-billed birds?
TODAY, AS WE'RE sure you're already well aware, is World Curlew Day.
The red-listed wader has become a symbol of how some iconic Irish bird species are under threat. A range of factors, from habitat loss to modern farming practices, leave their survival as a species hanging in the balance.
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To mark the day, we've pulled together a quiz featuring several long-billed (
or, in some cases, maybe, long-beaked
) birds.
What is the average length of a female Eurasian curlew's bill?
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5cm
Roughly 14cm
At least 100cm
200cm
Which bird has the longest break relative to its body size?
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The swordbilled hummingbird
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The great white pelican
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The bar-tailed godwit
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The coal tit
Common cranes are nesting in rewetted peatlands in the Midlands. What's so special about that?
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It is the only location in the world where cranes nest inland.
It is the only place cranes are found in the Old World.
Cranes only started successfully breeding in Ireland again in 2021, the first time in hundreds of years.
The cranes waged a guerrilla insurgency against Bord na Móna in the area for many years. After ultimately forcing their withdrawal, the birds rewetted the bog themselves.
Nothing, actually.
This is a spoonbill. What term is used to describe the shape of its beak?
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Recurved
Spatulate
Depressed
Stout
When did Guinness first run an ad campaign featuring the toco toucan?
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1890s
1930s
1980s
2000s
Kiwis look like they have a long bill, but in terms of how bill length is calculated, it's actually the shortest of any bird (let's not get into that right now). Can they fly?
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Yes
No :-(
What are they?
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Turnstones
Lapwings
Oystercatchers
Sanderlings
In love
How would you describe a heron's call?
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They kinda just scream, right?
It's very similar to (and often confused for) a wood pigeon.
They are silent, except for some barely audible courtship calls.
A rapid ticking.
Why do cormorants do this?
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No one knows.
They're just showing off (no, really — they're trying to attract a mate).
They release an oil under their wings which attracts insects, which they then chow down on.
Unlike other waterfowl, they can't make their feathers fully waterproof, so they have to dry them off (not ideal for a bird which hunts by diving underwater).
What is the longest possible length of a bird's bill?
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60cm
125cm
There surely must be some physical limit, but it's probably hard to define?
Given the potentially infinite nature of our universe, and also the potential that infinite other universes exist beyond ours, it would be foolish for us to presume there is an upper limit, as birds could exist elsewhere in a form us mere humans can't comprehend.
Answer all the questions to see your result!
You scored
out of
!
You are long-billed curlew
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You scored
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!
You are a black-tailed godwit
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!
You are a great white egret
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You scored
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!
You are a blackbird
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You scored
out of
!
You are a dunnock
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